Festivities to Celebrate Japanese Ties

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Cultural Festival, Bonfire, and Concert on the Beach to Mark 61 Years of Friendship with Shimoda, Japan
　
NEWPORT, R.I. – The City of Newport will be celebrating one of New England’s oldest Sister City relationships this week as Mayor Jamie Bova and the Newport City Council welcome an official delegation from Shimoda, Japan for a weekend filled with events paying tribute to Japanese culture and the legacy of Newport native Commodore Matthew C. Perry, USN.
 

• The festivities are set to kick off on Thursday, July 11^th with a public reception at Innovate Newport, 513 Broadway, from 6 until 7 p.m.
• A formal opening ceremony will take place on Friday, July 12^th at 11 a.m. beside the statue of Commodore Perry in Touro Park.
• On Saturday, all are welcome to join in the fun at the Sister City Japanese Cultural Festival at Touro Park from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. with traditional Japanese crafts, Taiko drummers, food, and a local artisan marketplace.
• Later in the afternoon, the celebration turns to Easton’s Beach where the City will be hosting an evening of Rhythm and Flame featuring food trucks, Japanese drummers, live music from the Swinglane Orchestra, and a community bonfire on the beach. The evening is due to get underway at 6 p.m., with the bonfire lighting at 8:15 p.m. Free parking will be available and there is no charge to attend!

 
This year, a 12-member contingent from Shimoda will be visiting Newport to celebrate the 61^st anniversary of the two communities’ friendship, including four students who will visit Newport as part of an ongoing student exchange program between the two seaside communities.
 
Representatives include Mayor Yusuke Fukui, and his wife, Yuki; Mr. Tatsuhiko Nagai, staff representative from the City of Shimoda; Mr. Shigeki Shinji, Executive Secretary, Shimoda Newport Club, and his wife Ms. Taeko Shinji; Mr. Shigenori Iwasaki, member of the Shimoda Newport Club; Mr. Eiji Fuji, member of the Shimoda Newport Cub; and Ms. Misuzu Yamada, an English Teacher who will be escorting four students from Shimoda Junior High School.
 
Newport was twinned with Shimoda on May 17, 1958 by Mayor Henry C. Wilkinson of Newport and Mayor Sadao Suzuki of Shimoda. It is one of the oldest sister city relationships in New England.
 
While the communities’ twinning relationship was formalized in 1958, their ties stretch back to 1848, when Cmdr. Perry successfully negotiated the nation’s first trade treaty with Japan, opening up the Pacific island nation to Western commerce and ushering in a new era of global trade.
 
Shimoda is a city and port located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan at the southern tip of the Izu peninsula about 60 miles southwest of Tokyo. Shimoda’s location, with the Amagi Mountains to the north, and the warm Kuroshio Current to the south give the city a humid, sub-tropical climate.
 
The Sister City program was created by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Sister City programs are established between cities that are similar in size, have common features (all of Newport’s Sister Cities are seaside towns) and an interest in developing cultural, historic and economic relationships. Sister Cities provide opportunities for citizens to learn about, experience and explore other cultures through long-term community partnerships. For centuries, cities throughout the world have established informal relationships based upon common cultural, economic or historic ties. The relationships provide a forum for the exchange of perspectives and ideas of culture, education, government and economic development.
 
Newport has five other sister cities - Imperia, Italy, Kinsale, Ireland, Ponta Delgada, the Azores, Skiathos, Greece and St. John, New Brunswick Canada.